Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had barely begun to give his acceptance speech at the 2008 Republican Convention when a clamor went up in the upper levels of St. Paul’s XCel Center. Adam Kokesh, a marine who had become a leader of Iraq Veterans Against the War, stood up and unfurled a banner with two sides. On the first side: “YOU CAN’T WIN AN OCCUPATION.” On the other side: “MCCAIN VOTES AGAINST VETS.”

Security guard went into action and dealt with Kokesh’s banner; an irritated crowd of Republicans chanted “USA” until the banner was removed. McCain moved right on, but Kokesh hadn’t finished yet.

“I’m grateful to the president of the United States for leading us in these dark days following the worst attack in American history,” said McCain.
“Ask McCain why he votes against veterans!” shouted Kokesh.

He didn’t get another chance to rain on McCain’s parade, but Kokesh remained proud of what he did. A video that cut together the interruption with jokes, subtitles, and a pounding soundtrack went up on Kokesh’s YouTube account. It’s still there, even though Kokesh’s relationship to the Republican Party is very different now. He’s a candidate for Congress in New Mexico’s 3rd district, looking like the Republican front-runner just one short year after he crashed the convention. Over the course of a year, he’s made the move from confrontation-seeking anti-war activist to clean-cut politician in the mold of the man he supported in 2008, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.).

“The ground has really shifted away from the neocon agenda,” Kokesh told TWI during a break in his campaign schedule. “There was no influx of young people getting into the Republican Party to support John McCain. By contrast, Ron Paul brought a huge number of young people into the Republican Party. It’s really exciting to see that happening again with my campaign.”

Kokesh’s move into electoral politics–he is 27 years old, and this is his first stab at campaigning–unifies two trends that have made the GOP that will fight the midterm elections dramatically different than the one Kokesh used to protest. The first is the rise of Ron Paul’s libertarianism. After years of obscurity, Paul came out of the 2008 elections with a national fundraising base and new respect for his ideas about war and economics among Republican activists and voters. The second trend is the Tea Party movement. After feeling ignored by George W. Bush’s Republicans, the conservative base has come together to demand commitment to the Constitution, commitment to small government values, and guarantees of national and state sovereignty.

“He never had an official role in the campaign, but we could count on him to energize people,” said Jesse Benton, Paul’s spokesman. Kokesh was a late edition to Paul’s 2008 “Rally for the Republic,” an event meant to “bring the Republican Party back to its roots” held in Minneapolis before McCain’s address to the RNC in 2008.

“I’d like to think that this symbolizes some good old fashioned traditional conservatism making a comeback in the GOP,” said Benton. “Republicans have seen that running as the ‘war party’ is a loser for them.”

Today, Kokesh argues that the efforts of Paul supporters look more or less successful. Bush-era “neocons” are out of the political mainstream, replaced by people like him. “Our nation is drifting dangerously from freedom to fascism,” Kokesh said at a July 2008 rally for Paul in Washington, D.C.; at a 2007 Senate hearing, he was photographed holding up a tally of how many times then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had said “I don’t recall.” But rhetoric that sounded out of the mainstream that year sounds perfectly in line with the comments of Republicans like Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) or Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), and criticism of the GOP or the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are no longer controversial in the party’s grassroots.

LOVE this. So true: “If you want to compare to Washington, yes, I’m a radical extremist,” Kokesh told TWI. “If you want to compare me to normal American values, I’m right in the middle of the road. I’m finding out that the grassroots of both parties are so grossly misrepresented by their representatives in Washington that we have more in common with each other.”

“He’s an interesting candidate,” said Richard Ellenberg, chairman of the Santa Fe County Democratic Party. “There are some people who surprise me with–I almost want to call it their ’star-struck’ approach to this campaign. They were star-struck by Obama and they’re star-struck by Kokesh.”

Kokesh’s appeal has a lot to do with the hard-edged activism that launched his career. He has traded in military fatigues for suits and plaid shirts. “I think people have told him that the one-fisted Black Panther salute might not sell anymore,” said Jesse Benton. His message, however, is the same anti-war libertarian populism that used to get him kicked out of buildings.

“You can’t just start chanting ‘End the Fed’ at a GOP county meeting,” said Kokesh. “You have to take a step back and explain this perspective on monetary policy. But what’s so exciting now, in terms of the opportunity presented by this horrible economic situation is that you can start teaching these Austrian economic principles, and all of a sudden they don’t seem so abstract because you can connect them to what’s happening in real life.”

Imperial

12-18-2009, 03:16 PM

Front Page of the Washington Independent. The author covers Ron, Rand, and Gary Johnson a lot but not always in a positive manner. Think he used to write for Reason

I love David Weigel's work. He doesn't always sound positive, but that is because he presents balanced journalism. There are always pros and cons and two sides included, rather than just pushing a singular position. The bias is in what he chooses to cover- like so much libertarian politics- and that he actually interjects some common sense into his pieces.

ronpaulhawaii

12-19-2009, 01:17 AM

Some of those comments at HuffPo are disgusting.

not all are bad:

jsarets I'm a Fan of jsarets 178 fans

Great!

Congress can use more libertarians, especially the younger breed of socially liberal libertarians.

Congress can also use more like Kucinich and Grayson.

The center is a cesspool of corporatism. I believe that the idea that the legislative process can only work by marginalizing the principled fringes is a fallacy. I believe that Congress could produce great policy through a substantive debate between left and right.

Politics should be a marketplace of ideas, not a game of tactical maneuvering.

I believe that the progressive left and libertarian right have more in common than we tend to acknowledge. We are fundamentally driven by the interests of people vs. power and a vision of America where underdogs can triumph over giants through work and ingenuity.

I subscribe to mutualism, a school of libertarian socialism that attempts to bridge the divide between individualism and collectivism through the organizational construct of private collectives: credit unions, health unions, cooperatives, partnerships, family businesses, network communities, etc.

We can find common ground, but we won't find it in the political "center".

ClayTrainor

12-19-2009, 07:44 AM

Great article!

Aratus

12-19-2009, 09:18 AM

coooooooool!

Adam Kokesh

12-21-2009, 03:54 PM

Someone just pointed out the coolest comment on the thread. This could be posted on every piece about every liberty candidate running right now:

If they thought they had trouble keepi ng Ron Paul out of the press and from speaking the truth in Congress they aint seen nothing yet!!! They should have listened to Paul...now we've got a whole new generation of free-thinkers running and WILL WIN for Congress. Shoulda just let us have our one Texan, now we want the whole damn Congress!!! Woot woot!

Travlyr

12-24-2009, 11:48 AM

Adam is a leader. We need him in D.C. Help when you can!

Adam Kokesh

12-28-2009, 12:07 PM

Over a week later and I'm still getting positive feedback from this story! (and a few more interviews as a direct result)

bobbyw24

12-28-2009, 12:09 PM

Over a week later and I'm still getting positive feedback from this story! (and a few more interviews as a direct result)

Excellent

When is your next Money Bomb?

Agorism

12-28-2009, 12:24 PM

If he can't win a general election in that liberal of a district, at least he may move the dem farther left on the war issue since Kokesh will be to his "left" on that issue.

Kevin_Kennedy

12-28-2009, 12:34 PM

Excellent

When is your next Money Bomb?

Feb. 1!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=176957790501

awsharp

12-28-2009, 01:01 PM

Feb. 1!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=176957790501

Everyone join the group!

There's also an event page now:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=228680822102&ref=nf

ALL of Adam's FB friends (around 5,000) have been invited, keep the momentum going by inviting yours as well!

If he can't win a general election in that liberal of a district, at least he may move the dem farther left on the war issue since Kokesh will be to his "left" on that issue.

Adam makes a great bridge between the left and right. Like the old saying goes, "If you can't beat 'em . . . —convince them to join you." :D

I'm also glad that Adam's past doesn't seem to be holding him back, like some here first thought. I'm sure the attack ads will come, as the race is just getting started, but right now the media doesn't seem to know how to handle him. Strike fast while they're stunned, Mr. Kokesh.

speciallyblend

01-06-2010, 12:29 AM

Adam makes a great bridge between the left and right. Like the old saying goes, "If you can't beat 'em . . . —convince them to join you." :D

I'm also glad that Adam's past doesn't seem to be holding him back, like some here first thought. I'm sure the attack ads will come, as the race is just getting started, but right now the media doesn't seem to know how to handle him. Strike fast while they're stunned, Mr. Kokesh.